


Dust to Dust

by Vereesa



Category: Kingdom Hearts, Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII
Genre: Angst, Family, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, canon divergence but w/ creative liberties taken
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-04
Updated: 2020-04-19
Packaged: 2020-11-23 20:37:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 3,959
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20895752
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vereesa/pseuds/Vereesa
Summary: [REQUESTED] [Post KHIII, Post Lightning Returns] [SLOW UPDATES] Chaos anomalies sprout across the universe, Caius has taken a sudden interest in King Mickey's connection to the Chaos, luring him into a trap to obtain the secret to his own freedom and finally break the cycle of death. Meanwhile, after sacrificing himself, Sora finds himself in a new world, with seemingly not so new faces. Lightning deals with the sudden return of her son, and the slow return of her own memories that had been taken by the Chaos. Despite the complicated feelings between them, the two must team up and rescue the King, or risk their new home and family once more while fixing their fractured bond.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is a requested fic from months ago, I apologize for just now posting it. I still don't know how long I will make this fic but I hope everyone enjoys it! Some chapters will be short, some will be long. I don't want to overload chapters with things that would work better as their own chapter.

**Prologue**

  
  
  


When the soft morning light trickles into his room through parted curtains he scrunches his nose and pulls his blanket over his head, making a feeble attempt of casting out the sound of chipper songbirds. He isn’t sure what time it is, but he’s positive it’s too early for them to be this ecstatic, especially since he hasn’t gotten up himself. It isn’t until the smell of syrup glazed sausage and eggs wafts to his room that the young man finally stirs from his comfortable cocoon, rubbing his eyes with a broad grin on his face as he hears the early morning ruckus of his mother working in the kitchen. With his bed still on his mind and the warm spring air finally heating his room he barely manages to dress himself up for the day without a hazard, when his mother finally calls for him from below. 

The young man groggily stumbles down the short staircase, mumbling a soft greeting in response to his mother’s curt “hello”. The smell of his breakfast makes his mouth water, stirring him more from his sleepy state until he’s seated before it, utensils in hand while his mother watches him, there is no sign of emotion, however her stoic face softens in a bit of amusement. He thinks he can’t remember when he last saw his mother smile, or hear her laugh for that matter. Perhaps when his father was alive…. 

Before he knows it he’s packing his things for school, his mother is double checking he has all his belongings and the young man laughs softly, “mom,” he says, “you’re going to be late for work if you keep checking my bag.” This earned him a soft huff, the older woman runs her fingers through her short pink bangs before turning on her heel, “just wait there.” she says. 

He waits patiently, however it isn’t long for the woman to return fully dressed in her uniform, hair tousled messily though he knows she’ll fix it in the car efficiently enough. She gestures for him to reach a hand out and he does, palm up to feel a cool metal plate and chain press against it. She had deposited a crown shaped necklace in his hand, he tilted his head curiously. “Don’t lose this,” she chastises,”if something happens to you this will always bring you home. Always, without fail.” The boy is uncertain what exactly she means from this statement, but the look of worry on her face reassures him that maybe it's true. As such he hastily clasps it around his neck to assure that he believes her. Though he still thinks it is but a silly necklace. His mother shrugs a coat over her shoulders and he grabs his off of the rack as well, greeted by the rush of cool air as she pushes the door open, she turns to him this time haloed by blinding white light, “I’ll see you soon.” 


	2. Chapter 2

_ He’s falling. _

His eyes are screwed shut, his hands grope restlessly for a surface, catching onto nothing, yet  _ everything _ . Almost as though slipping through a stream of water, the pressure around him is  _ thick _ but  _ light _ all at once. The sensation is already sending his addled brain into overdrive. 

_ If this is what dying is like, he’s not sure if he likes it.  _

It isn’t until he feels himself flip right-side up that he finally wills his eyes open, he’s surrounded by pitch darkness, tendrils of gray mist whisping around his arms and legs beckoning him deeper into their depths. He realizes, with sudden urgency, that this is corruption, darkness. It grasps angrily at his throat and he flails his arms, struggling to breathe, he whips his arm back and flexes his hand, thinking he can cut away with his keyblade only to have air greet his open palm, rather than the cool metal and buzz of magic from his weapon. Wherever he is, he has no power here. He tries not to think of the implication of that.  _ Maybe _ , he thinks,  _ this might be a good time to panic.  _ His hand reaches out desperately begging for someone to help him as the mist slowly engulfs his arm. 

And just as suddenly his body jerks forward, as though someone grabbed his outstretched hand, he catches the glint of his necklace floating before him, a soft silver sheen outlining it. The mist grabs for him desperately, to no avail. The force sends him spinning forward and he finds his eyes screwed shut again in a feeble attempt to right his spiraling brain. He covers his mouth in an effort to soothe his woozy stomach before his bodies chaotic momentum slows to a stop and the distant sound of buzzing gently floats to his ears, he hazards a peak, in the distance he can see the soft glow of  _ something. _ He wants to kick himself for not having a smarter deduction, he knows Riku would probably be laughing at his dull assessment. He moves his arms, a test at first, then his legs in a mock attempt to  _ swim _ through the air with surprising success. He feels like a baby discovering his limbs, it reminds him of when he was a mermaid, uneasy at first he quickly grasps use of his body and finds himself drifting effortlessly toward the light. Though he’s uncertain of what it is, he knows he has to move when he feels the call of the darkness behind him growing stronger before it slowly recedes from the touch of the massive glimmering crystal that comes into clearer view to him. 

It is blinding, at first. He can feel his face scrunching up as he blocks the light with one hand, the other reaching out and pressing against the smooth blue surface of the massive crystal. His eyes water as he suddenly feels many things at once, his heart lurches forward and clenched before stilling momentarily and warmth spreads through his chilled limbs until the light engulfing him becomes less threatening and he can lower his hand. At first the smooth glass reflects himself back toward him, a young man with tousled brown hair and a crooked smile that he’s sure isn’t actually on his face in this moment. In an instant the reflection ceases into a clear glass, almost window-like. At first he is peering into nothingness, until a face of a woman is peering back, and suddenly there are several other faces behind her, however she is the only person to respond in genuine shock. Her blue eyes widen suddenly, her palm pressed against his, and for a moment he could almost  _ feel _ her. A spark runs through his arm that makes him want to jerk back reflexively, however he is seemingly glued to the crystal. 

For some reason he feels his eyes start to well up as relief washes over his body. He thinks maybe it is because he’s suddenly not as alone as he thought. He sees a tear trickle down the woman’s high cheekbones before she suddenly pulls away from the crystal, as her image fades he watches a small smile creep up her mouth as she wipes the tear away. He lurches forward, slamming his fists against the crystal after the imaged fades and he has nothing but himself again, begging for the darkness to let him out, let him join them let him speak to that familiar woman as memories rapidly fill his mind he cries out, and the surrounding silence is so deafening he almost doesn’t hear himself: “Mom!”

  
  



	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lightning finds herself at the edge of a familiar place.

A year had passed since the souls of the old world had been shepherded to the new, another two and civilization continued on the path of chaos and internal conflict. Such societal trifles were of no concern to Lightning, who now reclaimed her birth name in favor of living a new life, casting aside and sealing her duties as both the savior and goddess of death. She had grown content with the simple, mundane life of traveling across the countryside and experiencing History from the sidelines. That was, of course, until Claire Farron found herself washed ashore the beaches of Valhalla once more. A torrential storm whipped around her huddled frame as her feet moved automatically to the edges of a ruined temple, now devoid of its Goddesses whispers. 

Now dimmed glass of the once effervescent rings that haloed the altar of Etro crushed under the woman’s feet as she sought shelter under the arches of what was once her own resting place. Ice cold water dripped down the frame of her face as she stared numbly at the half destroyed throne perched at the peak of the hall. Rivets of water streamed through crevices, creating the illusion of a hollow hymn as the temple’s long since dried pools filled once more.

Despite the absence of the dead goddess, Claire didn’t need to hear the call as her fate had been sealed the moment she had awoken. Her feet, heavy and reluctant, moved of their own accord until the woman found herself at the foot of Etro’s throne, now seemingly taller and more opposing than ever before. She ascended the crystal steps with a heavy heart until she could reach out and trace her fingers along the undamaged cold stone armrest. Her chest tightened, though the tears she now wept were for no one, not even herself. 

Glass fell to the ground below as she gently brushed it off the throne’s seat. She turned and looked on to destruction caused by a battle long since forgotten in the annals of History. Claire took a seat, back pressed against the only remaining support left as she stared out the archways to her shattered and storm torn domain. Her eyes glossed over as she accepted Etro’s gift once more, an intricate pattern flashing dimly over her dilated pupils. 

Then, darkness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ugh okay so I did say there would be sporadic updates, so I'm sorry this chapter came up so late it has kind of been in my drafts since the last one was uploaded (10-04-19) but I haven't had the energy to really want to update any of my projects. Uh this was not a forgotten fic, I promise. So now that this chapter is over its time for me to go over some stuff, if you've made it this far then THANK YOU SO MUCH. And I beg you to bear with me in these notes (I'll keep them short). 
> 
> A few things of note, I don't really intend on making this fic as canon as possible. There are things that happen at the end of KH3 and things that happen in post the after Lightning Returns novel that I do *want* to reference but I want to make this as AU as possible, which means I'm obviously going to be taking some creative liberties. Like how I've made it so Yuel does not live with Noel in the new world like canon suggests. Another thing I'd like to point out while I was writing these chapters is that I realized some of the pacing might be confusing and weird, I just hope you guys can bear with it for a bit while I work on tying threads together. I didn't want to take 20 chapters establishing the new world, that would probably be boring and would take away from the point of the fic I'm trying to write. 
> 
> So if in fact it gets confusing, I'd like to apologize ahead of time. I will do my best to clear up any issues my chapters may have in order to make an enjoyable story for whoever reads this.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Serah comes upon an old power

Serah recalled her return to the living as an extreme shock to her system, grown accustomed to her soul being entrapped within an immortal doll. When the Farron’s parents had died Serah recalled the priest who had laid their souls taking them aside to explain the intricacies of returning to the light. The Goddess would take them to a new world, a better world. And it was there that they would help create a paradise for when Serah and Lightning inevitably returned to their side. It was all part of the Goddesses plan to create a realm without suffering. 

When Serah died, there was nothing but darkness. The feeling of falling, as though she were in a dream waiting for the moment she’d land and jolt awake. Heart racing and covered in sweat. The landing never came, however, so she remained alone. 

Except she wasn’t alone, she was surrounded by the souls of others trapped in eternal darkness, the sounds of distant moans and memories shattering the emptiness of her own descent until she felt the pull, heard the call of another soul beckoning her towards the light, towards warmth. 

She was holding Lightning’s hand, embraced in the warm glow of the souls they had saved, the souls they would take to Paradise, as their friend’s hooted and cheered around them Serah watched solemnly as Lightning prepared to guide them to the new world. 

Unbeknownst to the others, even far out of the grasp of the long since dead goddess, Serah had become overwhelmed by the vision of a future that shook her to the core. Snow placed his arm around Serah and nudged her towards Lightning, whose hand lay outstretched. Pushing the thought aside, Serah extended her own hand, holding tightly to her sister as they were all teleported to their new home. 

A year later, Serah would be watching Lightning-- Now Claire -- cradle her newborn daughter anxiously, the woman would be rambling about how much she looked like Serah. Serah would have announced her name was Lumina, and Claire would offer her a strange, far off look. As though she were somewhere else, before shaking her head and insisting it was nothing. 

They would live in the beach side city named after Valhalla, this will be Claire’s decision, and though it would be a peculiar one everyone would agree to it out of respect for the things the ex-saviour had gone through. 

Two years later, Lumina will be playing with her toys on the living room floor as Serah serves coffee to her hastily gathered friends, all of whom had just recently flown out for their annual reunion. Claire will be anxiously pacing, a wild look in her eyes as she watches her friends with a strange clarity. Before she can reveal any information, Serah will explain that they both have Etro’s eyes. Snow will stand up quickly and glare at the two of them, Hope will quickly move to send Lumina to bed. The adults need some alone time, he would explain, and in reluctance Lumina will sleepily wave goodnight to everyone in the dining room. 

A year later, a strange boy will wash upon the shores of New Valhalla. 

Not even Lightning, nor Serah with their gifts will be able to predict the events to follow him.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Caius and lightning battle in the underworld, Ligtning wishes to draw a halt to a future that Caius has not come to see yet, though her condition is weakened by her prior visit to Etro's domain.

Caius Ballad stood upon a wall, perched high above the river of souls trickling languidly through the gates of the Underworld. His new domain, his new role the shepherd of souls. Much like his previous domain, there was no concept of time at the Gates. Etro’s Heart still beat in his chest, an agent of Chaos made immortal to imprison him within the sands of time. Once a Guardian of the Seer, now a caretaker of the long forgotten. 

He did not sit at his throne, for he knew the presence of a visitor before she had even thought to enter his domain. Even so, it was hard not to notice the presence of such a commanding soul. And as such, Caius gathered himself at the entrance of his domain and waited.

His patience did not go unrewarded, for soon the knight appeared before him clad in civilian clothing. Caius stiffly held his hand up in greeting, “and to what do I owe this pleasure? Do not tell me my once greatest foe has fallen and found herself at the gates of Hell.” 

“Be it as it may,” Lightning brushed her long bangs out of her face, she was much more pallid than he had known her to be. “I guess I came to see how things were.. Going for you.” She gestured largely, but moved her hand as an unphased soul pushed past her. 

“I am not a fool, young knight.” Caius pushed himself off the edge of the wall, landing perfectly on his feet with a languid, cat like emotion. He stood at his tallest and stared down at the seemingly unimposing mortal. Though she would like to have him think, the scent of the goddesses temple lay heavy on her soul. “The Goddess’ influence hangs heavy on you. It has taken a toll on your soul. If you have not died, I’d say you have come to claim a bargain for your soul.” He paced around her, ignoring the souls passing through his body. He came to a halt and stood before her once more, “Unfortunately I suppose that isn’t the case. You reek of immortality and sin. The seal you placed before coming to the new world has been broken.” 

“I come here as a peacekeeper, not as an enemy.” Though her breathing had sounded labored, she stood tall in a feeble attempt to match his stature. Caius cocked his head curiously, but didn’t speak on it much to the woman’s relief; “Though I do wish we were meeting on better terms-” 

The armored man held up a hand to silence her, his eyes narrowed, “you insist on treating me like a fool in my own domain. You have come here to challenge fate -- and dare not contest me right now, the powers of the seeress hang heavy on your crown. You’ve come to alter events that have not come to pass, have you learned nothing from the past? You cannot change Fate if you are not willing to undertake the consequences. You yourself have come here on a fool’s errand.” 

“I’ve come here to ensure the balance of Chaos stay in order,” Lightning bit back, she held her hand out, taking a defensive stance similar to Caius’, Overture forming in her clasped fingers seemingly out of thin air, magic crackled in Caius’ own hands as he drew his sword from his back. 

“You intend on maintaining such a balance by cutting me down before the cogs of fate can draw its conclusion? You will throw the entire timeline into Chaos.” Caius grunted with a swing, slamming his heavy sword down over Lightning’s head, it crashed to the ground, buckling the stone under it where the woman had stood before. Having bounced back deftly, she slammed her foot on the blunt edge of the blade using it to leverage herself above him, she swung for his head only for her own blade to be caught by his gauntlet. Steel cut through leather and flesh. 

It was a moment to pull her blade free that found her off balance, Caius threw her with a mighty blow under his boot, winding her as she planted her own to the ground to find purchase. Caius brought his sword up, holding his free arm out, he held a pincer stance, staring the ex-knight down as she dug the point of her sword down into crumbled stone, falling to one knee as she caught her breath. “It pains me to see a former formidable foe in such a state, your new life has softened you.” 

“I’m just warming up,” Lightning scoffed, pushing herself up to her feet again she charged carelessly, Caius caught it and lunged forward, intending for her to feint to the right, however not expecting her to Pirouette and strike from the right, he guarded once more with his arm, catching a glancing blow that caused him to wince back and retake a new stance. Lightning couldn’t help herself, “seems like you need a bit more time to warm up yourself.” 

Caius snarled, dragging the point of his blade along stone, he swung upward throwing dust and stone into the warriors face, she shielded her eyes only to be blindsided and caught by a blunt swing from his fist that sent her sprawling. She rubbed her face, rolling to the right to regain purchase of her lost sword in time to miss another crushing blow from his boot. 

He swung a hard, mighty blow downward that Lightning caught dangerously on the guard of her sword in an upward strike of her own, the point of her blade stopping just short of his glowing heart. The two fighters remained in the position for a moment, heavily breathing from the labour of combat. 

The man cast their swords to the side, grasping her by the collar of her shirt and lifting her above him. She gasped for breath, clawing at his clasped hands, she gritted her teeth in a foul scowl. 

“We are each other’s conclusion,” Caius said, his voice was like gravel though his eyes softened. “Know that I do not take pleasure in ending the life of a soul like mine, though I do wish our final battle could have been a bit more…” His sentence tapered off as the sound of a distant bell towed, the souls on the highway stopped to look at the two, finally acknowledging their presence with hollow stares. Lightning gasped and grunted, her knuckles whitening under her grip around his bloodied gauntlets. 

“It seems it is not your time, warrior. Return to whence you came, and forget your conquest against fate. You cut a bloodied path at the expense of your loved ones.” He squeezed around her neck and Lightning disappeared in a puff of grey smoke that snaked through his fingers and disappeared into the sky. A single white feather remained in the palm of his hand, he watched morosely as his fingers clasped around it, crushing it. 

  
  


Caius unsheathed his heavy sword, leaning it against the supporting pillars of his hall. Slowly he approached the center of the room, kneeling down to one knee he bowed his head in prayer. Moments later, he felt a gentle hand lay across the middle of his shoulder blades, he refused to look up, but responded nonetheless, “did you meet with our visitor?” He inquired. 

“Yes, strange people they are.” Came the reluctant, soft response of a young woman. Her hand left its place slowly and she circled around to him, cupping his face and lifting his head. Though Caius refused to look directly at her, he caught a glimpse of her appearance from her peripheral. Knowing that he finally acknowledged her she smiled solemnly. “I see you had a visitor of your own.”

“It is nothing of importance.” Caius said, this time finally looking her in the eye. 

“I know why, I saw her before even you.” Yeul said, pulling away and walking back to his resting blade, she traced a finger along its handle. Her small frame seemed defeated. “Such is the path that Fate has woven for us.” 

Caius stood and followed her as she walked toward her garden, something in the way she held herself concerned him, his strides grew quicker as he positioned himself in front of her, beckoning her to look at him. “All the times we thought we defied fate, were we just doing what was expected of us anyway?”

“It is as such,” Yuel nodded regrettably. “You extend my life by keeping me here, but that does not absolve me of what I am destined to face. What I am meant to do.” She pushed past him to retrieve her watering can, the garden was small and colorful. It looked strange in the backdrop of the dreary blues and greys of the underworld. Yuel gestured for him to sit at the bench as she tended to the flowers. 

The man sat reluctantly, still nursing his slowly healing injuries from his fight. Something so obvious that had not gone unnoticed by the girl, though she chose not to acknowledge it, perhaps more for his sake. “My visitor,” he said finally, picking his words apart carefully. “She carried a burden she does not yet know she has.” 

“You are talking about a piece of Etro’s soul.” Yuel placed her watering can down and sat beside him, finally taking his hand and pressing a palm to his exposed wound, a tingling sensation coursed through his veins. The irony of retaining wounds in the underworld had not been lost on him. “It is taking a toll on her body and she does not yet know why. She has unwittingly become a vessel for the goddess. It is a temporary source of her immortality.” 

“Will she die?” Caius flexed his fingers and inspected the scarred flesh of his healed wrist.    
  
“Are you concerned for her?” Yuel tilted her head, seemingly surprised. 

“.. No I suppose not. Though it will be a shame if she dies before we get to have a real battle.” 

“Perhaps she is temporarily taking on the role of the goddess of death once more, to maintain the balance of chaos.” She smiled sadly, “though it may cost her her life, she made a vow not to interfere in human ordeals. Anything that may threaten her realm is her responsibility, however.” 

Caius scowled, nodding in understanding, “heavy is the head that wears the crown.”

  
“When did you become so worldly?”   
  
“....Let’s not keep our new guests waiting…” 


End file.
